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Enners, Metzger Honored with Jersey Retirement

Ray Enners and James Metzger will forever be linked to Half Hollow Hills sports lore. Both are Suffolk Sports Hall of Famers and now both have their lacrosse jersey numbers retired.

The numbers, the first to be retired in Hills history, were retired at the end-of-season Hills lacrosse awards dinner. Enners wore No. 26 and Metzger wore No. 21.

"I feel having my number retired, for which was an unprecedented honor at Hills, with Ray Enners is probably the greatest moment in my athletic career," said Metzger.

Nicknamed "The Machine" by teammates, Lt. Ray Enners attended the United States Military Academy at West Point after graduating from Hills. He died valiantly on the battlefield in Vietnam in 1968 saving another member of his platoon who also happened to be from Long Island.

Metzger and Enners are also linked because Metzger won the Ray Enners Award in 1977 as the top lacrosse player in Suffolk County. He led his team in points and assists in both his junior and senior seasons and was an All-American as a senior. Metzger went on to star at Hofstra University.